Borneo Rainforest - Stock-Fotografie

The Masupa Ria district of Central Kalimantan province in Indonesia is known for an abundance of gold within the remote jungle terrain. A helicopter flyover reveals the vast extent of the Borneo rainforest. A gravel forest track has been pushed into this district to log the trees available in this section of rainforest. The El Nino of 1997 led to drier and less cloudy weather conditions than normal, which aided helicopter flying. A few months after this May 1997 photo the entire region would be engulfed by haze, chiefly from forest fires. The 1997 Southeast Asian haze was a large-scale air quality disaster that occurred during the second half of 1997, its after-effects causing widespread atmospheric visibility and health problems within Southeast Asia. The total costs of the Southeast Asian haze are estimated at US$9 billion, due mainly to health care and disruption of air travel and business activities.